Deloris Jane Burnam

Deloris Jane Burnam (née Idler) died peacefully at home in Lake Wales, Florida at age 88, surrounded by family, on February 20, 2022. Deloris was born near Selby, South Dakota on September 12th, 1933 to Bertha and Rudolph Idler, who were immigrants from Germany. After Rudolph’s death in Deloris’ infancy, financial hardship and lack of job opportunity in Selby led Bertha to relocate with her two children (Deloris and Arthur, ages 5 & 7) to Tiger, Arizona, where the copper mining industry was beginning to boom. Bertha established a boarding house to feed the miners, most of whom resided in tent barracks. In 1942 Bertha married Joe (Lowell) McGee, a former boarder, who became a beloved father to Deloris and Art.
Deloris was a good student and loved school, graduating from Hayden High School as valedictorian. A few months before graduation she eloped with her high school sweetheart Allen Burnam, who went to work for a copper smelter company in Hayden. Allen and Deloris raised five children, living first in Hayden and then on a rural property at the confluence of the Aravaipa and San Pedro rivers. Together they built a house, barn, corrals, and pens to keep a host of animals including a milk cow, quarter horse, Welsh pony, goat, rabbits, chickens, turkeys, geese, two dogs and five cats. They also planted 25 fruit trees and cultivated a large vegetable garden. With help from friends, Allen and Deloris built a small vacation cabin at Hawley Lake in Arizona’s White Mountains, where they would spend many weekends and summers. Deloris was vivacious, witty, smart and infinitely kind, in addition to being a devoted mother, skilled homemaker, and excellent seamstress. Family meals were always home cooked. She canned, made cheese and butter, was an active member of the Methodist church, helped establish a local 4-H club, and sewed both her children’s and her own clothes. While her children were in school 20 miles away, she drove the 85-passenger school bus and worked in
the school cafeteria. She taught sewing classes at the local community college, and because her students had difficulty getting fabrics and notions, established and single-handedly ran a fabric shop. Deloris and Allen separated in 1979, and Deloris moved to Tucson, Arizona with her youngest
child, Melissa. She worked full time, took college classes to broaden her education, and eventually retired from the Arizona Department of Economic Security and Family Assistance Administration as a supervisor for a unit of eligibility interviewers. After retirement in 1996, she moved to Florida to live closer to three of her daughters and their families. Deloris was an avid lover of cards, especially bridge, and was an excellent player. She took part in a lively and fun women’s bridge club in Hayden. In recent years she played online bridge and competed in a weekly bridge tournament with a partner in Canada; she was delighted that they won 7/8 of a Master’s point just 3 weeks before her death.

She was the heart, soul, and much-loved matriarch of her family, all of whom survive her: daughters Audrey (Gregg Bone), Marilyn (Emil Jahna), Marjorie (John Butler), Melissa (Jim Long), and son Marvin (Carolyn); grandchildren Elias, Keir, Suzanne, Analisa, Ashlee, Maggie, Katie, Bretta, Kayla, Bubba, and Devon; great grandchildren Crew, Abri, Fields, Foster, Sands, Graham, Nolan, Blakely, Riley, and Linden; step grandchildren Andrea, JT, Hunter, Heidi and Hannah. Messages can be mailed to the family at: Deloris Burnam family, 1542 N. Highland Park Drive, Lake Wales, FL 33898.